I just got a bag of perlite. Can perlite be mixed with soil and sand or perlite is used singly,I have no idea. In what proportion they can be mixed.Suggestions awaited.I am exited and cant wait trying perlite.

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rudiment wrote:I just got a bag of perlite. Can perlite be mixed with soil and sand or perlite is used singly,I have no idea. In what proportion they can be mixed.Suggestions awaited.I am exited and cant wait trying perlite.

Perlite is not a lot different from pumice. It has many benefits as a potting mix component. It's chemically inert, pH neutral, has no CEC, long lasting, will not break down over time, holds a lot of water, but maintains high air filled porosity.

It's main disadvantage is its lightness, it requires something with a bit of weight for the tree to anchor into.

I use the following 3 parts perlite to 1 part gravel, then I mix in some composted pine bark (radiata pine) at about 10%

The mix is light and can be easily washed off the top of pots, so a mulch layer helps keep it where its supposed to be, as well as prevent the top from drying out, essential for azalea and maples.

It's also dusty straight out of the bag, so wear a dust mask, or pour a lot of water into the bag a few hours before use. It doesn't require sieving; I use medium or large grade.

Yes, I meant I doesn't breakdown chemically . It is physically soft, very easy to squish and disintegrate between your fingers, so sieving and recycling will damage the particles and cause mechanical breakdown. Over time it also accumulates insoluble fertilizer salts, becomes harder, and eventually holds less water (but all hollow particles do this). So won't last indefinitely.

Khaimraj,

I've used perlite to make insulative fire bricks for a furnace to melt bronze in. I mixed a very high proportion of perlite to ramming cement (which is used to repair blast furnaces) and then molded into brick shapes. When heated up to 1000 C the perlite melts into tiny little balls of silica leaving hollows in the hardened refractory cement. Very cheap, very good.